Page 35 of Declan

“What’s going on, Max?”

“You got four pickups coming in at a high rate of speed,” he returned.

Fuck.

“You think they’re gonna intercept that convoy?”

“I think you better hold the fuck on and Dec better drive crazier than his normal crazy before you’re stuck in the middle of something you don’t wanna be.”

Fucking shit.

I knew something was off.

Indecision pricked the back of my neck.

“Ask Thad if that’s an American convoy.”

“Heard him.” Thad came back. “No markings. And it fucking pains me to say this, but get the fuck out of there.”

I could see the Merc half a mile ahead. And beyond the SUV, no less than seven trucks full of insurgents were coming straight for us.

“There’s six of us,” Autumn unnecessarily pointed out. “Even if those trucks only hold ten men each, we’ll be fucked.”

She was right, but it didn’t stop the gut rot from churning.

Something was off. I’d known it the moment I’d parked the car down the street from the women’s clinic. Helplessness washed over me. I was a fuckin’ Marine, it didn’t matter that I’d been out of the Corps for years. Once a Marine, always a Marine. That convoy held American service members, it was my job to protect them. It had been ingrained—service before self. I’d lived and breathed that motto. Now I was rushing away from the fight, leaving my brothers’ asses swinging in the wind.

“Fuck!”

“Dec?”

“I know,” I hissed. “I know, but I don’t gotta like it.”

Autumn wisely didn’t say anything.

The farther we traveled from the village epicenter, the more dilapidated the buildings got. Less traffic, too, which meant I had to slow down so I didn’t get too close to the SUV.

I glanced in my rearview mirror and saw Thad and Kyle in their POS car. Theirs wasn’t any better than the one I was driving. Up ahead Brooks and Max were a few car lengths behind Strotherby.

“They need to slow down,” Autumn said.

“I’d keep that comment to yourself, babe. Unless you want an earful from Max. He knows what he’s doing.”

The words had just left my mouth when I saw Max’s brake lights flash.

The silence stretched for a good long while until the sound of rustling material drew my attention to Autumn. She’d pulled off the niqab and was working the long black skirt down her legs.

“Sweet Jesus, that’s better,” she sighed.

“Put some clothes on.”

“Give me a minute. I’m sweating to death over here, this piece of shit doesn’t have AC, and I’m getting ready to pass out from heatstroke.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her taking off the long-sleeved, shapeless top that went with the skirt and niqab. The tank top she wore under the garment did nothing to hide her ample tits. As a matter of fact, the tight cotton molded to her curves and I clenched my jaw.

“You okay over there?”

“Peachy,” I returned through gritted teeth.